I was really struck by Kracauer’s conclusion that suicide was the only decent response to the events that took place during the Nazi era.
Does this mean that Germans see pride as more important than life? I find this hard to believe, because the predominating religion at the time was Christianity, which preaches that suicide is a sin, from what I understand. So doesn’t that negate the “decent” aspect of it?
I also looked up (on Wikipedia, so apologies if you have issues with this as a source) the suicide rates in Germany following this era, and apparently there were three waves of mass suicides in the final days of the Nazi regime, suggestive of “fear and anxiety [as] common motivations.”
Fear and anxiety of what was to become of them for their previous indecency toward the Jews? Or fear and anxiety over what a new regime would be like? Or something else all together?
Quite the article, Kracauer. It made me think a lot. The farther I got into the essay, the more shocked I grew. I may have freaked out a bit when I read that the “mentality has not really changed” and that it was very possible that a similar situation could arise again.
I also found his conclusion a little blasphemous. Kracauer himself is here condemning those of the Nazi era. I don't think suicide was the only "decent" response because I think there were a lot of good people who went along with the ride either because they were misguided or because they feared for their own lives. Then, when everything was coming to an end, the stigma against them for having participated at all was so immense that they felt they could not go on-- the entire world was against them. Germans have been known for their pride, but I can only imagine what it was like for some of these post-war Germans.
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